Homework & News

At the student led conferences there were a few people who asked about how the students are being assessed. To clarify, the assessment is ongoing and occurs every class in an informal and formative way. What this means is that it is generally done through observation and is more focused on improving the students learning rather than evaluating it. As the students hand in their designs I take the time to go through them thoroughly and provide feedback to them initially, and then in HomeLogic. When the students are done a project, or at the end of the term, whichever comes first, I sit down and “interview” the students to inquire further about the creating, appraising, and communicating of their learning. I then record this information in HomeLogic.

At the end of the term I will use all of the data collected to discuss the students progress and learning throughout the term. We will decide on an evaluation together and it is this that will be recorded on the report card. The reason this is being down is that there is a large variety of skill, knowledge, and ability in the students. Furthermore, there are close to 130 projects in the 9 classes and since they are all unique they cannot be compared to specific standard.

All of this has been discussed with the students so that they are aware. If they did not agree with this process then they were given the opportunity to record the steps they are taking in creating their project as well as their appraisal of the process and the final product, followed up with an explanation of the tools they used when working on their project.

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me.

Cheers,

Jeremy Lang

I have not been updating the blog as frequently as students are just continuing to work on their projects. We have close to 130 different projects between the 9 classes. As the students are improving their skills they are also problem solving and hopefully gaining confidence.  I am excited to see that some of the projects are finished or close to being finished and I look forward to seeing the ones that are still being planned.

As of Wednesday November 19 we only have 10 Construction & Design classes left. Having said this, many of you may need to think about where you are in your projects and where you still need to go. Remember that the room is generally open by 8am, during lunch, and after school everyday except when I have meetings or other commitments. Please take advantage of this.

Lifeskills 9-23

• We have been exploring what makes us happy, our self image, and how others may view us. This last class we discussed possible influences on these concepts.
• Your assignment, which can be done by yourself or with a partner, is to pick an example of violence in the media and answer the following questions in a presentation format. Your presentation should also include the image/article or a short song/video clip that explains your example. Here is a link to the chart explaining different types of violence and the questions are below.
  • What kind of violence is it?
  • How does it impact you?
  • How does it impact society?
• You will have time to work on this next class, Wednesday, November 5 and it is due on Wednesday, November 12.

C & D – 7, 8, & 9

• Students should have handed in their design / planning. This includes their project idea, questions about knowledge or skills they need to find out about before beginning, answers to as many of these questions as possible, a rough sketch of their project including measurements (if it is not something physical like programming then a written description explaining what you are trying to do is fine), and a list of materials and tools that they will need.
  • Remember that you should have not started working on your project until you had completed all of this.

C & D 7, 8, & 9

• We took the time to go over some more safety items as we are now working with more equipment. This included cleaning up and safety tools and gear.
• We also discussed the need to slow down to make sure that we are doing things properly. This means that we do not guess and if the students find themselves saying “I think this is what to do,” it means that they need to find out.
• We are continuing to work through our projects and are all at different stages.

Construction & Design 7, 8, & 9

• Students are in all different stages of their projects. Some have almost completed their first project whereas others have just starting working on figuring out what they would like to do.
• I am impressed by the level of depth that some of the students are going into as they try to figure out how to approach their projects.